Hearing on Flavored Malt Beverages

Sep278:22 am

LINCOLN - Are malt beverages more like beer or more like liquor? That question is the subject of an interim study being conducted by the Legislature's General Affairs Committee. One criticism of the beverages is that the liquor industry targets young people in advertizing for the products; but industry lobbyist Mike Mines insists that's not the case. Mines also argues that the process to make a beverage should determine how the state handles it, not the level of alcohol. The legislature approved a measure this year that taxes flavored malt beverages at the same level as beer, but requested the interim study.